Following You
by RedBenchArty
Summary: A story about a shy girl who grows up and leaves her hometown. The fearsome bully from her days of elementary school shows up at her work one day and she is astonished at the man's determination to keep the declaration he made long ago. AU in later chapters.
1. Beforehand Warning

Before you decide to read this story, I'd like to point out a few things as a warning.

This story will have hardly anything to do with the actual film- I will simply be taking parts and a few characters and using them in my story. They will be OOC and I wouldn't recommend avid fans to read this fanfiction because Scut Farkus will be displayed in a completely different way to how his character is in the movie. The beginning is set during the movie and the rest is set years after. I guess it's more or less written in an alternate universe.

Basically: **Scut is completely OUT OF CHARACTER.**


	2. One

_Scut Farkus._

_Scut Farkus! What a rotten name! We were trapped. There he stood, between us and the alley. Scut Farkus staring out at us with his yellow eyes. He had yellow eyes! So, help me, God! Yellow eyes!_

_Scut Farkus, the meanest kid in the sixth grade._

"Cheryl Stoeger?" Miss Shields looked up from her attendance sheet at the occupied seat of Cheryl. The little girl raised her hand and called back softly, "present".

As Miss Shields continued to take the class attendance, Cheryl felt a light tap on her shoulder and glanced back at her classmate. A small, folded note was in Peggy's hand and she indicated for Cheryl to take it while peering around the classroom to seem aloof.

Cheryl slid it out of her friend's hand, gingerly, and quickly clasped the paper in her right hand, placing both of her fists under her desk. She watched her teacher cautiously and risked a peek down at the note in her hand. Bold pencil lettering was scrawled across the top. _**GIRLS ONLY **_ it read, in sloppy cursive. The role-calling had continued, giving Cheryl the chance to quickly open the paper and read it.

_Ann likes Beatty! PASS IT AROUND._

She quickly crumpled the paper in her hand, scrunching it into a little ball by clenching her fist as tight as she could.

Ann Murphy had been a close friend of Cheryl's since they were three but she hadn't known that her friend was harboring feelings for one of their classmates. Peeking at Peggy behind her, Cheryl turned her lips downwards as she shoved the wad of paper into her sweater pocket.

Miss Shields had now finished the role call and she was sorting through a small pile of papers to begin the day's lesson plan.

The bell for recess went off a few hours later and students from each class lined up, single file. After they had dressed for the outdoors they were lead down the halls, down the stairs, and out the doors by their teachers. Once the line began to break formation on the playground, Cheryl found a familiar head of red in two pigtails leaving the front of the line and went over to take her arm. Ann beamed once she saw her best friend and happily looped their arms together. They waded through the fluffy snow, further away from the doors of their school.

"Hi Cher! Do you want to play house over by the monkey bars again?" She asked, excitedly.

Usually, Cheryl and Ann joined up with the other girls of their class and played make-believe together by the monkey bars. When the monkey bars got too crowded or when the boys decided they wanted to take over, the group of girls would head over to the left of the school building and play there.

Although she wanted to continue from their previous game where she was the nanny of the household, Cheryl shook her head before replying quickly with "What do you think of Beatty?"

Ann's face had already been quite pink due to the cold temperature of December but now it had begun to flush a darker red. She slowly removed her hand from Cheryl's elbow and let both of her arms hang tightly by her side. Peggy came skipping up to the two girls but before she could even begin her sentence, Ann turned around and squealed at her. "Why did you go and tell Cher, huh?"

There was a moment of silence where only faint sounds of kids screaming from across the field could be heard. The three girls stood in a small triangle, their breaths mingling with the winter air.

"Aw, come on Ann. I think he likes you too, you don't need to get all flustered." Peggy finally answered, heaving heavily.

Ann was bright red now, staring at Peggy with defiance in her eyes. "You're such a gossiper, I'm sure all the other girls know now as well!" The redhead stomped, sending little bits of snow flying with the force of her boot. "Who else did you tell, Peggy Lane!?"

Cheryl unbuttoned her coat and reached into a sweater pocket, pulling out the crumpled note from earlier and held it out. Peggy was her friend too and she didn't really want their bickering to draw attention. She was very introverted outside of her group of friends and she liked to keep the spotlight off herself. It was often difficult to do because Ann got very brash when she got riled up, she would attract crowds such as honey attracts bees.

"It didn't get far, Ann. Cher's the only one who read it."

Taking the note and unfolding it rather harshly, Ann squinted down at the words on the paper and glanced up suspiciously.

Taking a stand for her dejected friend, Cheryl helped to prove her innocence. "It's been in my pocket since she passed it to me, honest."

"Well... alright. But don't either of you go telling anyone else, y'hear?" Ann smiled. Her face had returned to its normal shade, save for her rosy cheeks. Peggy gave Cheryl a shy, reassuring grin which she returned and the three girls moved in for a group hug.

"Peggy! Ann! Cher! I thought we were going to play house!" A voice in the distance called.

Peggy leapt from the embrace, wide eyed and muttering. "That's right! Hurry!" She turned towards the monkey bars and ran through the snow, leaving fresh footprints trailing behind her.

Cheryl and Ann hurried after her, eager to get the most out of the time left of recess. In her rush, Ann dropped the note in the snow and stopped to pick it up. The residue snow melted quickly in her gloved hand, ruining the note and making it almost unreadable.

She paused then, looking up at Cheryl who had also paused and was patiently waiting for her.

"I wanted to tell you this morning, Cher... Really. But you were talking with Bonnie and the bell rang before we had a chance to-"

"It's alright, I'm not upset."

The two girls continued to strut through the snow, weaving their way through other children running about and playing tag. Suddenly perking up with a loud whisper, Cheryl had to blurt out what was left in her mind.

"...But do you really like _Bartholomew_?"

Ann burst into a fit of embarrassed giggles and gently pushed Cheryl to the side.


	3. Two

The remainder of the school day went by quickly as the majority of it was spent discussing proper conclusive paragraphs. Once the bell rang teachers and students bid each other goodbye and restless boys pushed at each other, each trying to make their way out first. As Cheryl ungracefully tried to maneuver her way down the snow-covered stairs, a younger boy bumped her shoulder while he leapt down the last four steps.

"Oh, look out, you!" She grumbled.

Ann, Peggy and two other girls stood watching her in a tight circle beside the stairs. They were all only just released from the heated indoors but already each one had a cherry red nose from the frosty weather. As Cheryl made her way over to them she noticed the frown on Ann's pink face. The redhead shoved her hands into her coat pockets and let a puff of warm air seep from her lips.

"Cheryl, I forgot to mention I can't walk home with you today."

"You can't? Why not?"

"My mom is paying for extra classes since the Christmas recital is coming up." Ann replied solemnly.

After the birth of their first daughter, Mrs. Murphy resolved to have all her children take up an instrument and one after the other, her daughters were made to take music lessons. Ann's eldest sister learned to play the cello while Ann and the second eldest played piano. Though none of the sisters showed a very strong interest for their instruments, the youngest of the Murphy children had. Ann's little brother brought home a clarinet in October, borrowed from the music room, and that night followed Cheryl had heard the distinct, loud squeaks from three houses down.

"I'm real' sorry but it'll only last until the recital."

Cheryl felt bad for her friend, who looked so disheartened with her eyes downcast and hands jammed tightly in her pockets. She wasn't upset with her though. She had been thrilled when word got around that Ann and her sisters would be playing _Ave Maria_ in the town's annual Christmas concert.

Smiling, Cheryl shook her head and reassured her friend.

"That's alright, Ann. Maybe I'll catch Margie on the way and walk home with her. You just concentrate on those keys."

"Yeah, come Christmas eve Beatty will be so impressed that after the show he'll ask you for a soda!" Peggy teased, forgetting to mind her mouth.

"PEGGY!" Ann shouted, angrily scuffing her boots into the snow. The other two hadn't known about Ann's crush but it wouldn't be long before the gears clicked into motion.

It was then the girls decided to part ways, choruses of "see you tomorrow" rang out, mingled with the farewells from the remaining students littered across the field. Four of them turned to walk right at the school gate and Cheryl alone turned left. 

Cheryl and Ann were the only girls from their little crowd who lived on the West side. They weren't the only two who walked in the same direction though, Margie from the next class over had to trek almost halfway to their street before making a turn and going South.  
>Trudging through the snow, Cheryl looked up from her feet hoping to catch a glimpse of Margie but was only met with a white road sparse of cars. Clumps of boys and girls either made their way home or towards the candy store. The older ones headed for the warmth of the malt shop across the street. The Soda Shoppe was where all the teenagers from the high school went to kick back after school ended. It had been converted from an old rental agency ten years back but swiftly grew in popularity. The diner was trendy, welcoming, and the owner was a man in his early forties who was hard of hearing and didn't mind a blast from the jukebox. Cheryl was not yet old enough to frequent with her friends but often got dreamy eyed at the prospect of it.<p>

While pausing at a red light, Cheryl noticed a couple boys head towards the laneway on the other side of the road. One in particular caught her eye though he was the size of a wasp from where she stood. Bundled up in blue was Ann's younger brother, Beanie.

Since the candy store was in the opposite direction, he was probably going home. He'd always arrived home before Ann did and often boasted about it when her friends came to visit. "Did you stop to smell the flowers?" he'd remark and then laugh and continue to make cracks at them until Ann screamed at him and shut the door in his face. Cheryl knew now that this was the shortcut he'd been taking. As the light blinked green, cautious steps were taken across the slushy street. Cheryl couldn't help but notice the cold winter air for lack of conversation to keep her mind off it. She considered taking Beanie's shortcut but she was slightly deterred by the likelihood of making a wrong turn and ending up on a separate street from her own. It would just prolong her time spent in the chilly outdoors.

Although, it _also_ had the chance of shortening her trip home.

Before she could change her mind, she quickly changed course and made her way towards and through the wide path aligned by backyards and garages. Beanie and his friends were gone, they had only left unfamiliar footprints that melded with a plethora of others. There were no intersections to bide her time and Cheryl expected to arrive home in almost half the time it would take her normally.

Walking through the laneway alone felt a little daunting and Cheryl felt a shiver run up her spine. She felt silly, turning her head quickly to look in both directions. There hadn't been anyone in front of her and there weren't any noises other than her own crunching footsteps.

She tried to pinpoint what it was she was most afraid of. Dracula had been a prominent fear of hers since Ann's older sisters had purposely spooked the two friends by putting on their own rendition of the novel. It was insensible for the monster to be lurking about during the day and certainly even more so with the blinding sunlight reflecting off the banks of snow. Her second thought was that she was also afraid the local enigmatic gypsy would appear before her. She didn't know his true name but the tea house he owned was one Mrs. Stoeger and her friends would often visit. Her mom scolded her when she'd first mentioned she was afraid of him. Another unreasonable thing to fear but knowing that didn't make her any less frightened. She took a quick peek behind her.

She reassured herself with thoughts of her room, her father's records, and the homework she would complete when she got home. Breathing became easier once she could see Cleveland street and her anxiousness began to die down. Soon she would be able to see her house.

Nearing the end of the side street, she took one last look over her shoulder and expected to find nothing again.

But something had moved behind the wooden fence beside her. She saw the figure of a person and then a flash of a face watching through the slits of the fence.

It wasn't a made up monster or even a grown man for that matter but her heart stopped and Cheryl let out a shrill scream instantaneously. Her boots slid on the snow as she fumbled to run. She caught her balance without halting her movements and tore out of the alley not even bothering to watch for traffic as she dashed across the road.

Her heart was in her throat, kicking up snow all the way home.


End file.
